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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: trunk · degree · shower · cold · root · wake · stick · saw

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. shower — rain
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wake — a trail
  5. root — of a plant
  6. cold — an illness
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. root — the cause
  11. shower — to wash
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. degree — temperature
  14. root — of a word
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. saw — the tool
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. cold — not warm
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — an amount
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com